With Croydon designated as one of the unhealthiest boroughs in London Foods for Life Nutrition and Health consultancy called for a joint effort to make Croydon a healthier place to live and work. A focus on 5 portions of vegetables per day seemed a good place to start.

Wednesday, 30 April 2014

Meat Free Mondays in London - Croydon Health

Croydon Health Officials

Now that the #changeyourplate campaign seems to be getting off the ground thanks to an article in the Daily Mail and the success of The London Vegan Society In Southwark It's probably about time we had another stab at trying to talk the Croydon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Council in Croydon into tackling the obesity and diabetes problems in our area head on.

#LondonMeatFreeMondays is in line with the latest research that we should eat MORE THAN 7 portions of fruit and vegetables a day and government recommendations that say that any amount of red meat increases your risk of bowel cancer and that no more than 1 small portion of meat should be eaten per day.

Croydon's PCT dietitians have claimed in the past that a plant based diet is something the British Dietetic Association cannot condone as it excludes important food groups even though their (out of date) Vegetarian and Vegan Diet information sheet admits 'Well planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of life'

NHS eatwell plate advises a portion of Cake and Cola a day

With the certainty that 5 a day, probably only 3 portions of vegetables a day, is woefully inadequate to help protect our children from chronic disease isn't it time we started a meaningful education program with one day a week focusing on increasing the foods we need to eat more of.

One Meat Free Day a week across all council sponsored facilities seems the very least a responsible administration could do.

Croydon Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says 'The latest NHS recognised research has at last caught up with Nutrition Therapist optimum Nutrition advice that is we should be eating at least 5 portions of vegetables a day, 3 portions of fruit with an emphasis on berries, at least one portion of beans a day and one portion of essential fat rich seeds a day. The fact that we need to encourage and educate children and their parents about eating more natural, fresh, plant foods is undeniable even for a head in the sand Tory Council with a laissez faire attitude to public health"

It's unquestionably not a case of letting sleeping dogs lie, the rabid dogs of morbid obesity, heart disease and childhood diabetes are biting health budgets squarely on the bum - it is irresponsible to simply dismiss solutions such as a 5 a Day Day in Croydon